Gate-operating mechanism.



M. C. SUPANl GATE OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-23. I915.

1,162,954, 1 Patented Dec. 7, 1915. I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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A M M Sflmmutoz MILTON C EwPHN M. C. SUPAN.

GATE OPERATING MECHANISM. APPUCATION FILED JAN-23. I915- 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

v Elvwwatoz Patented Dec. 7, 1915.

Wit/masses Ml LToN SUPHN.

MIL-TON C. SUPAN, O F RED FLUFF, CALIFORNIA.

' GATE-OPERATING MECHANISM.

Application filed January 23, 1915.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, MILTON C. SUPAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Red Bluff, in the county of Tehama and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gate-Operating Mechanism, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to gates, and par: ticularly to gate operating mechanism, and the primary object of the invention is the provision of mechanism whereby a gate may be opened from a distance and by persons riding in a vehicle. 7

A further object of the invention is the provision of means whereby the gate may be opened, partly through the action of gravity and partly through the action of suitable operating levers. v

A further object of the invention is to provide a gate of the character described and an o erating mechanism therefor so constructed that a strain will be placed upon the gate which will cause it to open immediately after the proper latch is released, and provide means for releasing the latch.

A, further object is to simplify the con struction of gates of this character and increase their effectiveness.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of a gate constructed in accordance with my invendetail horizontal section looking down upon the lower end of the yoke and showing the lower bar for the pintle; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation enlarged of the rear portion of the gate, the adjacent gate post, and the swiveled bearing for supporting the gate upon the gate post; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section of the auxiliary post 6 and the upright 2, the section being taken just above the latch 10; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectionon the hue 5-5 Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a section through the wheel 21; Fig. 7. is a fragmentary PGI'SPGC? tive view showing the upper end of the yoke and the pintle extending therefrom. Fig. 8 is a sectional view on the line 8 -8 of Fig. 2.

Referring to these figures, 2 and 3 designate opposite gate posts, which may be made tion; Fig. 2 is a Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. '7, 1915.

Serial No. 3,976.

tended across so as to connect the gate posts by a transverse brace i, and preferably this angle iron also extends across the bottom of the gate to provide a transverse brace 5. Disposed in conjunction with the post 2 or upright is an auxiliary gate post 6 which may be made of wood, cement, or other suitable material and. which is attached to the post 2, and which has at its lower end the transversely extending anchoring plate 7. A transversely extending anchoring plate is also attached preferably to the brace 5. These plates are to be embedded in the ground so as to be perfectly rigid.

Attached to the standard or post 3 and extending in line therewith is a yoke 9, the upper and lower ends of which are inwardly bent as at 10. The upper inwardly turned end of the yoke is formed with a perforation 11 and the lower inwardly turned end is formed with an elongated slot 12 or recess having concavely curved bottom- 13 formmg a seat for the lowermost gate the curved seat 18, the opening 11 being sufficiently large to permit the oscillation of the pintle 16 for a purpose to be later described. The gate is normally held closed by means of oppositely disposed latches 17, these latches being pivoted one on each side of the auxiliary post 6 and each latch having an outwardly extending beveled lug 18. The latches are guided in their movement by the keepers 19.

For the purpose of actuating the gate I mount upon the uprights 2 and 8 the transverse shaft 20 which carries at one end the relatively large grooved wheel 21 and upon its other end a spool 22, both the wheel and the spool being rigidly attached to the shaft 20. Rigidly mounted upon the upright 3 and the yoke 9 is the transversely extending cross bar 23, and pivoted to the opposite ends of this .cross bar are the upwardly exisrb,

tending levers and 25, these levers being identical in form. To the lower end of the lever 25 is attached a' cable 26 which extends to and is coiled aroundthe pintle '6 and then'eXte-nds to the lever 2a. The

leve'rs'2i and 25 are connected at their upper ends by means of a link 27 whichis pivoted to the levers to connect them for common movement, and it willthus be seen that upon 10 a movement of both levers in one direction the cable 26will be drawn iirone direc tion, causing the rotation: of the pintle 16 and of the gate in'one direction, while upon a movement of the upper ends of the levers in the, opposite direction the gate will be swung oppositely. v The upper ends of the levers 24- and 25 are connected'by means of a cable 28 which is wrapped or coiled around the spool or drum 22. Thus the rotation of thc'shaft will cause the oscilla- 'tion of the levers in one or the other direction. This rotation of the shaft 20 is ac coinplished by means of cables passed over the grooved wheel 21. I

Pivotally mounted upon the, upright or post 2 above the wheel 21 is a rocking lever v 29 which extends out on each sidebeyond the wheel 21, theends of the rocking lever zbeing provided with inwardly pro]ect1ng d0 pins 30. A cable having two'ends 31 and 32'is wrapped around the grooved wheel 21,

each end of the cable passing over one of the pins and extending up the road and passingover a pulley 33 mounted upon a post 34, the depending end of the cable being disposed adjacent the road so that it may be conveniently grasped by those approaching the gate in automobiles or other vehicles. Springs 35v are attached to the upper end of the upright 2 or to the cross bar which extends downward and outward, and are connected at their extremities to the extremities 1 of the lever 29. ,Attached to the rocking lev'er29 are cords or cables 36 which extend downward to the latches 17. Thus when one end of the rocking lever 29 is raised the corresponding latch will be raised, and vice versa. The latches; however, it will be seen are operable independently of the rocking lever; The gate 14 is preferably connected to the'yoke 10 at its middle by means of a swiveliconnection 37 which will permit the V 'vious from what has gone before.

lower end of the cable 16 to oscillate in the groove or recess 12 and at thesame time permit the gate to swing with its pintle in a'horizontal plane.

The operation of my invention will be Iolb- 1e operator draws upon one of the cords or cables 31 or 32. This will cause a depression of the corresponding end of the lever 29 and this draws upward on the opposite latch. A continued pull on the cord or cable causes a rotation ofthe shaft 20. This causes the levers 24" and 25 to rock, drawing the cable 26 in one direction or the other depending upon the direction of rotation of the shaft 20 and depending upon which of the cords or the cables 31 or 32 is pulled. When the strain is thus applied to the cable 26 it will first cause the gate to rock in a plane transverse to the plane of the gate when closed and'cause the lower end of the pintle to move in the direction awav from that in which the gate is to open. The lower end of the pintle will thus ride up the inclined bottom 13 of the seat or hearing 12 thus causing the gate to be thrown out of plumb and overbalancing it. As soon as the pintle has reached the end of the seat 12 toward which itis moving the strain on the cable 26 will rotate the pintle and the gate will thus be opened both by the pull on the actuating cable 31 or 32 and by the action of gravity on the overbalanced gate. The weight of the gate thus helps to open it and thus no great amount of strain will be placed upon the cables 31 or 32. In closing, the lower end of the pintle 16 tends to slide down this inclined bottom to a middle position so as to bring the gate back to a vertical position as the pintle is reversely rotated by the operating means. To close the gate one of the cords 31. or 32 is pulled and as the gate closes the upper edge of the gate will lift the latch permitting the entrance of the gate into the space between the latches, the gate striking the latch on the opposite side and stopping while the first named latch falls to its locked position. It will be understood of course that the framework of the gate should be made of sufiicient height to permit the passage of a loaded wagon beneath it.

While I have illustrated what I regard as the preferable form of my invention, it will be obvious that many changes may he made therein without. departing from the spirit thereof.

aving described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A gate structure including an upright, a gate mounted thereon for oscillation in a plane at right angles to the plane of its closed position, a supporting pintle depending from the gate at its hinged end, a hearing member disposed below the lower end of the pintle and having a recess whose bottom is concavely curved in a direction transverse to the'plane of the ate in its normal position and upon whic the lower end of the pintle rests, and actuating means for shifting the pintle and gate in a direction away from the direction in which the gate is to open to overbalance the gate and then rotatllii disposed uprights, a gate swingingly mounted upon one of said uprights and being oscillatable in a vertical plane at right angles to the plane of the closed position of the gate, latches mounted upon the other upright and normally holding the gate in its closed position, a pintle mounted upon the hinged end of the gate, oppositely disposed vertical levers mounted on opposite sides of the first named upright, a cable wound upon the pintle of the gate and connected at its opposite ends to said levers, a shaft operatively supported on the uprights, a cable connecting the upper ends of the levers and coiled around the shaft, a wheel mounted upon the shaft, flexible actuating connections passing from said wheel, supporting means for the ends of said flexible connections whereby an actuation of one or the other of said connections will cause the rotation of the shaft in one or the other direction and the consequent oscillation of the gate, and means operatively connected to said shaft for raising one or the other of the latches upon a rotation of the shaft in one or the other direction.

3. In a gate structure, oppositely disposed uprights, a gate, a pintle for the gate rotatably mounted upon one of said uprights, oppositely disposed latches pivotally mounted upon the other upright, a rocking lever pivotally mounted upon the last named upright and having connections to said latches, springs normally holding said rocking lever in initial position, vertically disposed levers mounted upon the first named upright and pivoted intermediate their ends, a flexible connection attached to the lower ends of said levers and coiled about the pintle of the gate, a shaft mounted in the uprights and having a spool thereon, a flexible connection connecting the upper ends of the levers and coiled about said spool, a grooved wheel mounted upon the shaft, and flexible actuating cables passing over said grooved wheel, said cables being operatively connected to the rocking lever whereby strain exerted upon one or the other of the cables will oscillate the lever to raise the corresponding latch and rotate the shaft to swing the gate.

4:. A gate structure including an upright, an upper and a lower bearing carried by the upright, a gate mounted for swinging movement upon said upright and for oscillation in a vertical plane at right angles to the plane of the closed position of the gate, a pintle carried by the gate and depending below it, said lower bearing having a pintle seat formed with a concavely curved bottom extending in a direction at right angles to the plane of the gate when closed and supporting the lower end of the pintle, oppositely disposed vertical levers mounted on each side of the uprights and pivoted intermediate their ends, a flexible connection connecting the lower ends of the levers and coiled around said pintle, and manually actuatable means for oscillating said levers to oscillate the gate and draw the lower end of the pintle to one end of said recess and then rotate the pintle and gate to thereby cause the opening thereof.

5. In a gate structure of the character described, a gate, an upper bearing and a lower bearing, a vertical pintle upon which the gate is supported, said pintle having oscillation in the upper bearing, and resting loosely at its lower end upon the lower bearing, said lower bearing having a pintle seat concavely curved in a direction transverse to the closed position of the gate, the lower end of the pintle having sliding engagement with said seat and manually operable actuating means operatively connected to the pintle and when actuated drawing the pintle from a median position to one end of the seat to thereby cause the overbalancing of the gate, said means then acting to rotate the pintle to thereby rotate the gate to its open position.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

MILTON C. SUPAN.

Witnesses:

FRANK GLASSBU'RNER, LAUREN A. W001).

Copies of this Patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

